When A’san and A’si finished work and were eating dinner in the afternoon, they saw Steward Zhang hurrying past.

The two exchanged glances, and A’san suddenly clutched his stomach, saying he needed to go to the latrine, and bent over as he went out.

When he returned, taking advantage of when no one was around, he whispered to A’si, “Steward Zhang told the deputy steward that he needs to go out tonight, and also instructed him to listen at the door in the middle of the night—someone will come to collect goods.”

A’si nodded and said, “We’ll follow tonight.”

When it got dark, Steward Zhang finally went out.

In the kitchen, Meihua poked her head out to take a look.

When delivering food to the wet nurses in the evening, she noticed that the soup one of the wet nurses was drinking had changed in taste.

This meant the prescription had been changed.

Since the prescription had been changed, did that mean the child she was nursing no longer needed to be fed?

Meihua remembered that the last time a child was taken away, the wet nurse’s prescription seemed to have changed too.

Although they hadn’t found any problems when examining the medicine packets last time, they hadn’t relaxed their vigilance.

Meihua and Xinghua exchanged glances. Xinghua went to check on the child that wet nurse had originally been nursing. That child was raised to be extremely spirited, sleeping very little each day. When pressing firmly on his wrist, you could see faint black veins.

Xinghua calmly put the child back.

At midnight, A’san, A’si, Meihua, and Xinghua each quietly got up.

Separated by a wooden partition, both A’san and Xinghua pressed their ears against the boards, listening to the movements next door.

People on both sides thought the others weren’t good people, probably spies lurking in this foundling home.

The holes from last time had all been plugged up, and no one would open them again.

Hearing no sounds, A’si made a gesture and quietly went out, crouching under the rear window of the nursery.

Meihua pulled Xinghua up onto the roof and lifted the roof tiles.

Below, the wet nurses were all awake. That baby was carried out, wrapped in swaddling clothes, and placed in a small basket with some gifts and miscellaneous items on top, making it look like someone carrying gifts to visit a household.

Faint knocking sounds could be heard. The deputy steward received the bamboo basket at the nursery door, carried it to the front courtyard, and handed it to the person who had knocked.

The person who knocked got into a carriage waiting at the door and hurried out of the city.

A’san and A’si had already taken advantage of the chaos to hide under the carriage beforehand.

A moment later, Meihua and Xinghua came out. The carriage had already disappeared, but a shadowy figure emerged and pointed in a certain direction.

At every corner, someone indicated the direction.

Before leaving the city, someone asked quietly, “Do you young ladies need our help?”

Xinghua said, “No need. You guard our master. Too many people would alert the prey.”

The two pursued out of the city and finally stopped in front of an abandoned temple.

The surroundings were empty and desolate, with wild grass everywhere. Fine rain pattered down as the carriage disappeared into the deep grass, driving directly into the broken temple.

A’san and A’si, hiding under the carriage, heard the people in the carriage get down with very light, quick footsteps.

A’si suddenly felt something was wrong.

After all this time, why hadn’t the child made any sound at all?

Then he heard the sound of wind—someone had swept in, followed by a “snap” and the sound of something rolling around.

A’si had no time to speak. He suddenly grabbed A’san and swept out from under the carriage, rolling on the ground and tumbling under the altar table beneath the god statue.

In that roll, he vaguely saw two shadows sweep in through the doorway, and then the main door slammed shut with a bang.

Then came a tremendous explosion as the carriage exploded inside the broken temple.

A’si pressed A’san tightly to the ground, feeling the entire broken temple shaking. Various fragments crashed down onto the altar table above their heads, then onto their bodies.

Smoke filled the air. They could vaguely hear people coughing—the two who had entered later seemed to still be alive too.

Those were naturally Meihua and Xinghua. Xinghua, being alert, had entered just as A’san and A’si were rolling down and immediately pulled Meihua to throw themselves flat on the ground.

They had thrown themselves down at some distance from the exploding carriage. The gunpowder used on the carriage didn’t seem particularly extensive, but even so, exploding in a sealed room was still tremendously impressive. Everyone’s ears were buzzing loudly. After a while, when the smoke cleared a bit, Xinghua pulled Meihua up and immediately saw that Meihua’s arm had been injured by a wooden board and was bleeding. Her face immediately changed.

At this time, A’san and A’si also crawled out from under the altar table. A’san came out first, and when he tried to help A’si up, his face changed—he discovered that one of A’si’s legs was bloody, apparently broken by fragments from an incense burner.

Xinghua saw this too, and her face became even uglier.

Knowing about her problem with blood, Meihua had to turn her face away and tell her not to look. The two sides stared at each other.

Originally, upon seeing each other, their first reaction would have been “Are these people here to hunt us down?” But now, seeing the injuries on both sides, they were suddenly uncertain.

There was a strong burnt smell in the air. Xinghua went back to push the door but couldn’t move it—it was already blocked by heavy objects. The two sides looked at each other, then both looked up to see that the beam on the upper slant of the west wall had broken, revealing a gap wide enough for one person.

Both sides averted their gazes, then simultaneously turned and rushed toward it.

A’san and Meihua reached it at the same time. Meihua kicked out, but A’san nimbly dodged. Both leaped up simultaneously, barely grasping one side of the gap.

The next instant, both coughed violently and fell back down, tears streaming.

A’san said, “…Below… below it’s all fire…”

Xinghua sighed softly and said, “We should have guessed. Otherwise, why would they lock the door of this broken temple?”

They were afraid that if the explosion didn’t kill them, they could trap them here and burn them to death.

A’si suddenly said, “Why did you follow us here?”

Xinghua hesitated before saying, “We were ordered to investigate the shady dealings in the foundling home.”

A’si said, “What a coincidence, so are we.”

The two sides looked at each other. A’si suddenly reached out to grab Meihua’s face.

Even though Xinghua was closer to him.

Meihua reacted quickly too, dodging by tilting her head.

But A’si now had his answer and said, “Then it was all a misunderstanding before. We mean no harm to you.”

He knew who these two young ladies were.

Ye Shiba’s two maidservants, who always followed by her side—one smooth and versatile, the other stubborn as a mule. He’d had experience with them and had a deep impression.

Having lurked far from their master’s side daily, he’d seen these two maidservants often and was familiar with them. If not for their excellent disguise techniques, he should have recognized them earlier.

Chi Xue and Dan Shuang had only seen the two once, about half a year ago, on a small boat at night when the other party had also worn masks. After just a few exchanges, they couldn’t remember for the moment.

But Chi Xue had a vague sense of familiarity with these two. She immediately cast aside suspicion and decisively said, “Let’s work together to escape first, then investigate together and report separately. How about it?”

A’si nodded, turning to see Meihua clutching her arm while A’san was also shaking his hand, and Xinghua obviously had poor martial arts skills.

Fire was creeping in through the door cracks, and there were still gunpowder fragments in the temple. Once it caught fire, it would explode again. They had to get out quickly.

Looking at that gap again, it was really very high. Normally it shouldn’t be a problem, but now with everyone injured, they could only escape through mutual assistance.

He stood at the foot of the wall, indicating for A’san to step on his shoulder and go up first. But Dan Shuang was uneasy: “Why should you escape first?”

“With your injured arm, can you pull people up?”

Dan Shuang shouldered him aside, stood against the wall, and said, “Step on me, but send my sister up first.”

A’si pushed her aside again, “A woman showing off like that!”

Dan Shuang pushed back, “A broken leg showing off like that!”

Suddenly someone shouted, “Come up quickly!”

The two looked up to see A’san against the wall base, having already sent Xinghua up.

Both: “…”

After Xinghua got up, she borrowed A’san’s knife and made the gap a bit larger, then reached down to pull the shoulder-injured A’san up.

After A’san got up, he reached down. Dan Shuang said, “Broken leg, you go up first. Otherwise, if you can’t climb up at the end, we won’t be able to lift you either.”

A’si grabbed her and threw her upward.

Dan Shuang stepped on the wall surface and sprang up, her uninjured hand catching A’san’s, and got up to the wall gap.

Below came a crackling explosion, and A’si fell backward heavily.

Dan Shuang was startled and shouted down, “A’si, A’si!”

After a long while, they vaguely heard A’si say, “…Go quickly! You all go quickly!”

Smoke rose from below again. Meihua threw down a stone, and there was an “ouch” from below.

Dan Shuang straddled the broken wall and shouted loudly, “If you don’t hurry up and climb up, I’ll tell everyone about how you dug holes in the wall at midnight to peek at me and had nosebleeds looking at me!”

A muffled sound came from below, as if he was angry. After a moment, A’si climbed up the wall like swimming. Meihua’s eyes lit up, about to praise him and ask why he hadn’t climbed up like this before, when she saw A’si deflate and slide down again like a punctured balloon.

Dan Shuang had no time to think. She grabbed the edge of the wall with both hands and slid her feet down, “Grab my feet!”

Her feet were grabbed. A’san and Chi Xue worked together to pull the two upward.

Fire chased up along the ground, about to catch A’si. Dan Shuang used her legs forcefully and bounced up sharply. With a whoosh, relying purely on her waist and leg strength, she actually managed to send A’si through the gap.

The several people on the wall tumbled into a heap, then fell down the wall surface. Originally there had been fire outside, but thanks to the continuous rain, it hadn’t really caught fire. Otherwise, with grass everywhere and open space all around, once it burned up, the several people would have no escape even with wings.

The several people rolled around covered in charcoal and mud, gasping on the wet grass. Suddenly A’san got up, pushed aside the long grass, walked a distance, and pointed at the ground saying, “They left from here.”

Under the long grass were clear footprints and wheel tracks. A’san crouched down and sniffed, saying, “It’s that group of people. I can still smell that medicine packet scent.”

A’san had an extremely keen nose.

A’si could also confirm that the child had indeed been carried onto the carriage and never got off in between. Obviously the other party had taken the child away, blown up the carriage, and had people here to provide support, then got into a new carriage to go to their destination.

A’si struggled to get up but was stopped by A’san. Over there, Chi Xue also said to Dan Shuang, “You’re injured, just stay here. I’ll go take a look and come back.”

Getting evidence against the Xiao family was very important for the Crown Princess. Chi Xue didn’t want to give up.

“You don’t know martial arts!”

“I have the ability to protect myself. It’s fine.”

Zhao San also wanted to complete Feiyu’s orders and stood up saying, “I’ll go with you. You two find a place to rest and heal your injuries first. We won’t cause trouble—we’ll follow from afar, and if we discover anything wrong, we’ll come back.”

Mu Si still wanted to object, but Zhao San and Chi Xue had already walked away together.

Dan Shuang wasn’t worried—Chi Xue always had her own ideas. But Mu Si wasn’t used to it; Zhao San had always followed his orders.

Mu Si narrowed his eyes and glared viciously at Zhao San’s happily disappearing figure ahead.

Little brat, getting bold!

…

When Tie Ci entered the River Works Office at nightfall, she could still vaguely hear the roaring sound of the turbulent, surging water from Sanhe River.

This weather made even one’s heart feel damp, as if some bad premonition was pressing down heavily like the hazy clouds overhead.

The common people by Sanhe Embankment were working through the night. The original sand embankment had only been simply sealed last time, and there were still many places that needed repair afterward. They had to fix it before a possible autumn flood.

The water level was getting higher and higher, approaching the water level from the night when the embankment was breached.

The officials of the River Works Office weren’t there tonight either—they had probably gone to the embankment.

To clear Gu Xiaoxiao of any connection, Tie Ci had Gu Xiaoxiao go to the embankment to inventory a new batch of delivered materials while she herself infiltrated the River Works Office accounts room.

The accounts room was just a small house, standing independently and conspicuously on the west side of the official compound courtyard, with some flowering trees on both sides, not touching anything on all four sides.

Inside the room were tall shelves on all four walls. Gu Xiaoxiao had been in and out of here frequently recently and had already searched through once without discovering anything.

Either the account books weren’t here, or there was a secret room or hidden compartment underneath.

Someone was on duty in the accounts room. In the deep quiet of night, he was dozing off while lying on the tall stacks of account books. When Tie Ci swept in like a breeze, passing by his side, she lightly touched the back of his neck, and his snoring became even louder.

Tie Ci felt around all four walls and confirmed there were no hidden compartments, then crouched down to feel over the ground inch by inch.

After a while, she stood up, her gaze sweeping around the surroundings again before finally settling on a potted landscape by the wall.

It was ordinary decoration, but in this small accounts room packed everywhere with account books, where people constantly had to carry account books back and forth, having such a thing placed there seemed to be in the way.

Tie Ci touched the ornamental pine bonsai, picked it up to look, and discovered the soil in the bonsai was somewhat dry.

She thought about it, picked up the teapot from the table, and poured water into the bonsai.

The water seeped into the soil. As the bonsai grew heavier and heavier, the ground suddenly made a clicking sound. The stone slab beside the bonsai opened, revealing a tunnel entrance.

Tie Ci stared at the pitch-black tunnel entrance, feeling somewhat puzzled.

Even if this was the largest local River Works Office, for some private matters, just making a hidden compartment would do—that was the normal operation. Digging tunnels and such was troublesome and laborious. Could it be that these people had committed crimes so serious that they dug a tunnel so that when government officers came to arrest them, they could hide inside?

She threw a fire starter down. The flame didn’t go out, it wasn’t deep inside, and it extended forward.

There was no particular movement either.

Tie Ci didn’t hesitate much before preparing to jump down.

It wasn’t that she was reckless, but she couldn’t stay in Dongming County much longer. After all, investigating her identity wouldn’t be difficult for the Xiao family.

Originally she had just wanted to go straight to the River Works Office to look into the fishing tax issue, but she encountered the embankment breach incident on the way. She was forced into the Xiao family’s view and, relying on confusing her identity, temporarily fooled the Xiao family, gaining this window of opportunity. She wanted to get the embankment repair off to a good start, then catch evidence of the fishing tax irregularities and the foundling home, which would make this trip worthwhile.

But the more things she wanted to do, the more delays there would be, and the greater the possibility of being discovered by the Xiao family.

She had just crouched down when she suddenly became alert and turned around, her elbow already sweeping out.

But her elbow was caught by someone who gently blew a breath by her ear.

Faint sandalwood fragrance, that familiar flirtatious and languid style.

Tie Ci’s shoulders immediately relaxed.

“How did you get here?”

Feiyu’s voice was slightly hoarse and light, “Finally escaped the torment of those old locusts. I missed you.”

Tie Ci’s ear tickled from that voice. Hearing the last sentence, the corner of her mouth curved slightly.

Feiyu had already jumped down, “Hurry up.”

Tie Ci said, “You should stay outside and keep watch for me.”

Feiyu said, “I think it’s more dangerous down here. This tunnel entrance has no locks either—we’re not afraid of people locking us in.”

She was also very thoughtful, going to the bonsai area to feel around for a while and destroying the bonsai’s control mechanism.

Tie Ci had no choice but to jump down too.

After the two jumped down, someone quietly walked into the room above.

That person patted the person sleeping at the desk and woke him up.

The two looked at the tunnel that had returned to normal and walked out of the room.

One of them patted the wall outside the room. Four iron wheels slowly extended from the four corners of the room, and a group of people rushed over, pushing the house outward with all their strength.

When that person patted the wall, the house made clanging sounds of raw iron. Obviously this was an iron house, painted on the outside to look like bricks to deceive people, then concealed with flowering trees so people wouldn’t notice.

In just a moment, the entire house had moved several feet. The original tunnel entrance was covered again, with the entire iron house pressing down on top.

Even the greatest immortal couldn’t get out from the tunnel entrance anymore.

Those people brushed off the iron filings from their hands and silently disappeared into the darkness.

…

The tunnel was dug very roughly, not like it was for people to live in. There wasn’t much inside either, just quite a bit of winding around. After Tie Ci turned several circles, she said in amazement, “Why do I feel like we’ve turned back to the starting point?”

Feiyu said, “No, it’s not the original place. We’ve already changed direction.”

But after all this turning, the two also couldn’t quite figure out what position above ground they corresponded to now. They could only continue walking forward.

After Tie Ci walked for a while, seeing that this tunnel really had nothing in it, she suddenly stopped and said urgently, “Something’s wrong! Let’s go back!”

The two immediately walked back. When they tried to open the tunnel door again after struggling to return, they couldn’t open it no matter what.

Both understood some mechanism techniques and were certain that the tunnel entrance just now should have been impossible to lock from the outside, otherwise they wouldn’t have both gone down.

What was happening now?

Tie Ci suddenly threw out a punch, shaking down dirt and stones all over her head. There was a faint clanging sound, and at the same time her fist hurt.

That was the sound of hitting an iron plate.

Tie Ci knew things were bad.

Not being able to open the tunnel entrance meant that everything tonight was a trap.

Gu Xiaoxiao!

Tie Ci’s heart became anxious. She grabbed Feiyu and ran frantically.

What they could do now was hurry to get out from another exit.

Tie Ci had a terrible guess in her heart—what if there was no exit on the other side at all?

Would they have to be buried alive underground?

Feiyu was usually unrestrained in temperament, but at crucial moments she was very steady. Holding her hand, she patted her own lower back and said, “Even if there’s no tunnel on that end, it doesn’t matter. I brought weapons—we can dig our way out even if we have to dig.”

Tie Ci said, “We’ve been sensing airflow all along, which is why we kept walking. There must be an exit.”

The two continued forward along the tunnel. In the darkness, fearing ambush, they held hands throughout, each watching one side of the wall.

The fire starter’s dim yellow halo illuminated each other’s gentle silhouettes.

Although Tie Ci was somewhat worried and anxious, her mood was peaceful, even knowing that the next moment she might have to face a storm.

After walking a short distance, that bad feeling in Tie Ci’s heart grew stronger and stronger. She even vaguely heard the sounds of wind, rain, and water waves.

Could this tunnel’s exit be underwater?

Wind was faintly blowing from ahead.

They were very close to the exit.

Tie Ci gripped Feiyu’s hand tightly, wanting to teleport out for the last stretch of road.

As for where they’d teleport to, that would depend on luck.

But at this moment, she heard someone transmitting voice from ahead.

That person’s voice was a bit sharp and somewhat familiar. First came a laugh, then: “Be honest and don’t play tricks. Come out step by step—your good friend is waiting for you!”

…

Author’s Note: It’s the last day of the month! Don’t waste any remaining monthly votes you have.